EMERGENCY: Raccoon attack last night. Injured, lethargic hen with oozing eye.

[UrbanEnthusiast]

Fortunately our next door neighbor chased off the raccoon before he killed our beloved Welsummer, Salma.

Today her eye is a bit oozy and she's definitely lethargic. She's standing up but not moving around much. She's missing about half her tail feathers as well as a small patch missing under her wing, but there doesn't seem to be any injury there. She was on her nest for a while but I don't think she laid. I went to check on her a few minutes ago and there was a cold egg there (probably from yesterday since we didn't collect) and she was lying down a few feet away. She let me pick her up with no objections, which is entirely uncharacteristic of her. Normally I can't even catch her. I offered her feed and water but she refused. She kept moving her head around and I couldn't get a decent pic of the eye before she hopped off, but here's what I got:




You can see the clear-ish ooze on the left side of her eye. We put antiseptic solution on the cut above her eye after the attack last night and kept her inside until light, but I don't want to put anything actually in her eye. We have no money for a vet but we will figure out how to get her to one if we need to.

Please help!

 

[Sabrina 42]

Contact lense solution is a great eyewash, It may help to flush her eye and other wounds with it. It's the same as saline solution but it is made to stay sterile for long periods of time where regular saline solution is only good for 24 hours. I always keep a package of antibiotics and a package of stress reducer handy. That way if things get worse you already have them. They were around $30 for both and will last forever.

 

[Sabrina 42]

How is your chicken doing now?

 

[Gretababy]

After my hen was attacked by a raccoon last year I did take her to the vet - she was acting similar to your description and the vet said it was likely she was in pain. The vet did 12 sutures on her neck and gave me pain meds and antibiotics. My hen looked a bit worse than yours however, she had blood all over her face and obvious wounds to the neck/head. The raccoon had punctured her head above her right eye and pushed it down - she lost the use of it.
I will say she recovered after about a week and other than being a bit more cautious, she is the same as before. I would recommend you get antibiotics at a minimum.